Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings was teary eyed after his performance during the Losail MX2 race for the opening round of the 2015 FIM Motocross Championship.
And he had reason to be, considering he had just doubled at the opening round at Losail, Qatar, earning a perfect score aboard his KTM SX-F250.
In tears, Herlings – known as The Bullet – said “You can’t believe what was going through my head on the last laps, I was seeing the craziest things. I have just had a lot of bad luck in the last months, struggling with my leg for a long time, seeing this doctor, that doctor, and onto the next doctor, but finally it’s okay and I can finally ride. Yeah, my riding wasn’t that great but for me it wasn’t even about that. I am just so happy to be here.”
Joining Herlings on the overall 2015 Qatar MX2 were Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Julien Lieber and Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Dylan Ferrandis.
The Belgian Lieber put in a stellar performance, finishing 3-2 to take second overall.
“It was definitely not easy for me this weekend, but in the race my riding was good and Dylan crashed in the second race, so I got third in the first race and could get second in the last race. I am looking forward to Thailand, I know it will be difficult to do the same but I will try my best and we will see,” Lieber said.
The Frenchman Ferrandis impressed in race one, finishing second, but his performance in race two was even more impressive – he recovered from a wicked crash to finish fourth and take third overall.
“I am happy with today because I haven’t been riding that long because I had an operation on my shoulder after I crashed riding supercross. It was my second operation on that shoulder, so I am happy with return and my speed,” Ferrandis said.
Regardless of crashing heavily in race two, Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser took fourth overall. In race two, the Slovenian fought back to inish seventh which was in addition to his fourth in race one.
Rounding out the top five, Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Aleksandr Tonkov wound out the night strong with a thrilling run at Julien Lieber in the final race for second, but couldn’t quite make it happen and was forced to settle for third.
2015 Qatar MX2 Race 1 Top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33:51.825; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.674; 3. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:04.052; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:11.387; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:12.575; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.559; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:28.803; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:29.400; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:36.823; 10. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:40.860
2015 Qatar MX2 Race 2 Top 10: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 33:56.613; 2. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:02.731; 3. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:05.065; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:10.885; 5. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.093; 6. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:18.511; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:20.689; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:26.731; 9. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:30.798; 10. Thomas Covington (USA, Kawasaki), +0:54.200
2015 Qatar MX2 Overall Results & Points: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 38 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 32 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 31 p.; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 29 p.; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 28 p.; 9. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 10. Thomas Covington (USA, KAW), 21 p.
MX2 Manufacturer: 1. KTM, 50 points; 2. Yamaha, 42 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 38 p.; 4. Honda, 32 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 31 p.; 6. Suzuki, 29 p.
[…] was Herlings’ second-straight qualifying win of 2015; last week at the Qatar MX2 season opener, Herlings dominated qualifying and followed the performance with a double for the […]